Books, Reading, Libraries, and Learning Blog

Book Review of Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon   BIBLIOGRAPHY Sheinkin, Steve. 2012. BOMB: THE RACE TO BUILD – AND STEAL – THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc ., by arrangement with Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership. ISBN 9780545595971. PLOT SUMMARY During World War II, the United States, Germany, and the U.S.S.R. all wanted to be first to develop a working atomic bomb. This is the story of the race to get the bomb, and the men and women who played important parts.     CRITICAL ANALYSIS Author Steve Sheinkin does a splendid job of telling history in a compelling way that combines hard facts with the emotions running rampant through the world during World War II. Sheinkin’s organization and documentation are outstanding. He offers a wide range of points of view, from American to Russian to German to British, from scientist to soldier to politician to la...

Book Review of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice   BIBLIOGRAPHY Hoose, Phillip. CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 9780374313227.   PLOT SUMMARY Claudette Colvin grew up in Alabama in the 1940’s and 50’s. These were the Jim Crow years when racist white people in the southern United States prevented black people from being treated equally under federal law. From early in her life, Claudette questioned why blacks were treated differently from whites. Eventually, this question led her to be arrested for violating a racist law. Claudette ended up leading a life far from what she had hoped for, but one that never betrayed her internal fortitude and personal integrity.        CRITICAL ANALYSIS More than anything, this is a book about how somebody with no power and no connections can play a pivotal role in history. This is a biography that show a very real person and h...

Book Review of All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team   BIBLIOGRAPHY Soontornvat , Christina. ALL THIRTEEN: THE INCREDIBLE CAVE RESCUE OF THE THAI BOYS’ SOCCER TEAM. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9781536209457 .          PLOT SUMMARY Twelve boys and their soccer coach take an impromptu field trip into a local cave. There, they are caught by an unexpected rainstorm that threatens their lives as they are trapped underground with no way out. Many government workers and civilians work together to get them out safely.           CRITICAL ANALYSIS                                            This book won the accolade of being a 2021 Orbis Pictus Honor Book, and it...

Book Review of Scythe   BIBLIOGRAPHY Shusterman, Neal. SCYTHE. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young People. ISBN 9781442472433.   PLOT SUMMARY In a future where the supercomputing cloud, now an AI known as the Thunderhead, has helped humanity to answer every question and solve every problem, death has been conquered. Now the only problem is overpopulation, and that issue has been dealt with through the creation of the “Scythe.” Scythes are humans whose job is to take lives. They have been tasked with this enormous mission, and only the best of the best are chosen to be a Scythe. However, even Scythes can become overwhelmed with the enormity of their occupation, and for that reason more Scythes must be recruited. This story is how a Scythe finds two teenagers to introduce to his profession, and what ensues after they accept the invitation to become apprentices.     CRITICAL ANALYSIS Neal Shusterman has created a detailed, with logical con...

Book Review of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children   BIBLIOGRAPHY Riggs, Ransom. 2011. MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN. Philadelphia, P A : Quirk Books . ISBN 9781594744761. PLOT SUMMARY Jacob Portman grows up inspired by his grandfather’s tales of adventure, until Jacob reaches the age of questioning these stories. He decides that they are just “fairy tales” and begins to live a normal young boy’s life. However, that all changes on the day he finds his grandfather murdered. What follows is Jacob’s pursuit of the mystery that was his grandfather’s life, and how it connects to Jacob himself.      CRITICAL ANALYSIS This novel is a wonderful example of fantasy fiction. The protagonist, Jacob Portman, lives in a normal world where his grandfather is his hero and closest friend. Eventually, however, as he gets older, he starts believing that his grandfather’s tales are just made-up lies. His grandfather is killed in a strange way that ...

Book Review of Clariel   BIBLIOGRAPHY Nix, Garth. 2014. CLARIEL. New York, NY: Harper, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 9780061561559.               PLOT SUMMARY Clariel is the daughter in the family of goldsmiths. They move to the capital city. Clariel misses her old home and wants to return home. She becomes embroiled in political intrigue at the same time that she is growing into her magical abilities. Her parents are murdered by a pretender to the throne. Clariel has to flee to avoid being captured and used as a pawn in the attempted coup against the king. She has to decide between using what is considered acceptable magic, and magic that is outside the conventional standards. She ends up using some of each, with mixed results.               CRITICAL ANALYSIS                     ...

Book Review of Burn Baby Burn   BIBLIOGRAPHY Medina, Meg. 2016. BURN BABY BURN. Somerville, MA : Candlewick Press . ISBN 9780763674670. PLOT SUMMARY Nora Lopez and her best friend are about to graduate from high school. They plan to make the summer after they graduate the best one of their lives, but issues in Nora’s life, as well as city-wide arsons, electrical blackouts, and a spate of killings make this anything but a happy time in their lives.     CRITICAL ANALYSIS 1977 New York City was an intense, stressful year for its residents; and Meg Medina captures the anxiety perfectly in her young adult novel, BURN BABY BURN. The protagonist is Nora Lopez. She is about to turn 18 and graduate from high school with her best friend Kathleen MacInerney. The author captures the events occurring in the city, arsons, killings, and electrical blackouts, in all their terrible glory. Nora’s younger brother, Hector, is a juvenile delinquent, responsible for some of those aforemention...

Book Review of The Book Thief   BIBLIOGRAPHY Zusak, Marcus. THE BOOK THIEF. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. ISBN 9780375831003.   PLOT SUMMARY Liesel is adopted by a German couple. They raise her in a medium-size town during World War II. She, her family, and friends live through increasingly difficult times as the war goes badly for Germany. Her best friend is Rudy. Together they have many adventures together. At great risk to themselves, Liesel’s family takes in a young Jewish man who is hiding from the German authorities. The man eventually leaves them to protect them from possible repercussions from the authorities. After that Liesel’s street is bombed by the allies, and her mother, father, and best friend are killed. At the end of her life, she is living in Sydney, Australia where she passes away from old age.   CRITICAL ANALYSIS Th...

Book Review of Salt to the Sea   BIBLIOGRAPHY Sepetys, Ruta. 2016. SALT TO THE SEA. New York, NY: Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. ISBN 9780399160301.             PLOT SUMMARY Four young people take turns telling the story of their lives as they negotiate their singular roles in 1945 wartime Germany and the surrounding countries. Their paths unite in different places, merging at the end in a tapestry of intensity and pathos.       CRITICAL ANALYSIS This is an outstanding novel. It takes a little while to get used to cycling between the main four characters, but once you learn who is who, you develop a true concern for three of them, and a disgust for the fourth. Sepetys’ use of this one despicable character reinforces the positive attributes of the other three main characters, as well as that of their companions. As I read the novel, I found myself rooting for the three “good” characters, and, in...